Monica Shiralkar

Thanks

Came across this

https://www.javaranch.com/bunkhouse/bookSearch.jsp?category=Advanced%20Java

Surprisingly, "scala for impatient" is there but "Java for impatient" is not there in this big list.

Thanks. What about "Thinking in Java" ?

Carey Brown wrote:I don't think it would have a negative effect. As you go through it more and more of it will probably start coming back to you.

Thanks. The reason, why I feel Head First Java (latest version) can be still useful is that it has distinctive, visually rich format designed to engage the brain differently, which could provide new insights or reinforce the existing knowledge in a more interactive manner. And also the last time I read a book on java (complete reference), that time it did not have Java 8 + features, which should be good to read in Java Head First latest version, a book I never read but heard good things about. The ones who read said it has interesting way of explaining things.

Tim Cooke wrote:
I do not believe I did make that recommendation.
.

I had said that based on your saying "If you're already familiar with Java and programming in general then I'd probably go for something like Core Java for the Impatient, by Cay Horstmann."

I now understood why you said for Horstmann's book specifically.

Tim Cooke wrote:If you're already familiar with Java and programming in general then I'd probably go for something like Core Java for the Impatient, by Cay Horstmann. The Horstmann book assumes you have a familiarity with programming so will likely be starting from a position closer to where you actually are, rather than Head First which is more suitable for someone with little or no programming experience. It's not that Head First will have a negative effect, as Carey says, but you might find it a bit too easy and thus find it hard to stay engaged with the learning journey.

Thanks. Any reason that you recommend "the core java for impatient' over "effective java" ?

Ron McLeod wrote:Is your goal to refresh yourself on what you have previously learned/used, or to become up-to-date on the newer features/concepts which you may have not seen before?

What version of Java were you last working with?

I had used upto Java 8 and then Java 17. Goal is to be good in Java, specially when it is the language I have worked the most in career. Whatever I already know,  make sure that I know the concepts correctly, whatever I do not know, learn those.

I am not a beginner in Java. I had started my career on Java around 15 years back. That time I had read book "Java: The complete reference". Then after 3 years I  started working on Hadoop, Spark where programming language was Java so was still in good touch. Since last 6 years I have got very less work on java and instead got regular work on Python.  I do get Java work but on and off now. I want to be good in Java.

Head First Java, is one of those books which in general it is more suitable for beginners in Java. I know many of the things in this book will be very basic for me but since this book explains the concepts very nicely, it came to my mind that read it and see if there are any concepts which I still do not know properly and for rest of the concepts which I already know it will be just a refresher.  That's possible with anyone that even after working for years one knows some concept incorrectly.

Will it be alright for me to start reading Head first java or such a step will have negative effect on me and better I should go with some better different approach (like some different book or learning the new features in new versions online)?
Thanks.

I am trying to learn to avoid filler words while speaking. I realize that all my life I have been including a lot of filler words in my speaking communication, and that it causes multiple problems. 1) It is difficult for listener to understand what the person is saying as he/she has to filter out the filler words from the content the speaker spoke 2) Whatever energy the speaker spends on using those filler words that energy he/she can instead use for thinking what to speak next 3) Speech/Talk with filler words sounds bad.
I was thinking that when someone asks something and I use a filler word like aahh, it gives me time to think and answer. But I was wrong. Instead of wasting energy in the filler word one should rather just take a pause and answer if if required say "I am thinking" and the answer. In any case, avoiding filler words in the good habit to adopt.

Now that I have started avoiding filler words in my talks, I see my speaking speed come drastically down because the earlier speed was having actual content plus the filler words. Does it happen that when one starts avoiding filler words, the speed of speaking initially falls drastically down and then gradually one discovers and builds his/her new speed of speaking? Any tips that can help on learning to avoid filler words? Thanks

Thanks

Tim Cooke wrote: he speeds up, slows down, talks loud, soft, fast, quiet, high tone, low tone, among other things the listener isn't actually aware of, and of course body language.

Yes. I agree and understand that all of these can be useful skills in IT too.

Tim Cooke wrote: IT professionals also have a story to tell but their story is the key point of value

"key point of value" means?

Tim Cooke wrote: can only help in their ability to tell the story they wish to tell

Does it mean being able to explain whatever one wants to explain?

Tim Cooke wrote: perhaps your mind wandered during the talk because it didn't hold your attention?

Yes. I understand now that not just clearly speaking but being able to hold attention is also important.

Tim Cooke wrote: The ability to tell stories is a good skill to have, especially in IT where the subject matter can be a bit dry sometimes  

Did not understand what it actually means.  

Tim Cooke wrote:I can't say I've noticed the characteristics you mention. Perhaps share some examples?

Like this one :



With due respect to this champion's speaking skills, in IT I have never seen a single person speaking with such dramatic sounding tone variations.

Tim Cooke wrote:Toastmasters is a long standing organisation who's teaching methods are based on lots of research into how best to convey information in a structured and engaging manner. I'd say there's not enough of that among IT professionals.

That is good but for the dramatically high and low tone often used in toastmaster's speeches, I did not see a single person speaking in such dramatic tone in IT. And if someone speaks like that in IT it will sound awkward.

For IT professionals, Toastmasters is considered as a great way to build speaking skills. What I could not understand is that when I see toastmaster speeches online, in almost all of them the speaker speaks in dramatic way, raising the tone too high sometimes and looks dramatic style of speaking. In IT workplaces, no one speaks that way and even if someone it would be very rare. So could not quite understand how toastmasters is the right way to build speaking skills for IT professionals. I understand it can be great way for politicians, lawyers etc. but how for IT people? Thanks

I see one more reason for which developers will still be required.
Before AI, to do any work, the developers had to have a good understanding of the code they are writing. Now with AI some bad developers will just copy from chatgpt, get the work done, without understanding how it is working.  When production issues come, they (if still in the team) won't be able to understand the cause easily (since they had just pasted something from AI and that had worked), and then good developers around will be asked to jump in, understand the code and resolve the issue.

Paul Clapham wrote:But it's normal for technological advances to make some workers obsolete, or at least less employable, isn't that so?

Yes. Thanks. So, one had to keep learning and not become obsolete.